Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord.

Candy

Renee

Rosy

Molly

Emily

Shannon

moi

Grace

Mrs. N

Matthew Stuckey

Prayer of Those Suffering Miscarriage

My Lord, the baby is dead!
Why, my Lord—dare I ask why? It will not hear the whisper of the wind or see the beauty of its parents’ face—it will not see the beauty of Your creation or the flame of a sunrise. Why, my Lord?

“Why, My child—do you ask ‘why’? Well, I will tell you why.
You see, the child lives. Instead of the wind he hears the sound of angels singing before My throne.
Instead of the beauty that passes he sees everlasting Beauty—he sees My face.
He was created and lived a short time so the image of his parents imprinted on his face may stand before Me as their personal intercessor.
He knows secrets of heaven unknown to men on earth. He laughs with a special joy that only the innocent possess.

My ways are not the ways of man. I create for My Kingdom and each creature fills a place in that Kingdom that could not be filled by another.
He was created for My joy and his parents’ merits. He has never seen pain or sin. He has never felt hunger or pain. I breathed a soul into a seed, made it grow and called it forth.”

I am humbled before you, my Lord, for questioning Your wisdom, goodness, and love. I speak as a fool—forgive me. I acknowledge Your sovereign rights over life and death. I thank You for the life that began for so short a time to enjoy so long an Eternity. -- Mother M. Angelica

***WARNING! LONG POST WITH LOTS OF NUMBERS**** I thought someone out in Bloggetyville might be interested to see how a family of 9 celebrates Christmas for under $250 $300 total. Actually, I don't know if that's our total, because husband dear won't be purchasing my gift until Christmas eve, and we haven't actually bought stocking candy yet. It should be under $300 still when I get those numbers in.

We usually have a fairly frugal Christmas. We don't have any credit cards, so we have to pay cash, which helps a lot. Amazingly, God always provides... last year Mr R's school gave us $500 (!) to spend at WalMart, which was amazing since we had $0 to spend on Christmas, as we were putting our pennies towards Baby X. This year, a neighbor gave us a box of toys that were left over from their Angel Tree. They just had a few odds and ends left over that didn't fit in the truck and asked her to find a family to give it too. The few odds and ends were toys for preschool girls and elementary aged boys!

So far, I have bought some gifts both Eco Friendly and Recycled (aka, Garage Sale and Goodwill) and at a few stores. I was so happy to find out from HealthyToys.org that the Imaginext Dinosaurs were safe! Mr. S has been wanting one for over a year now. They were on clearance at Target (clearance toys at Christmastime? What are they thinking?) so he gets two.

Here's the roundup so far (also, my list of gifts where the kids won't find it and I won't lose it. Blogs have many uses!)

Decorations and miscellaneous: $136 pack of snowmen ornaments to make the kids a "2007" special one $76 tangerines for stockings $2Hershey Kisses $2Marshamallow Santas $1Fruit juice sticks gummy things (again, I'm hip to the fun kid food) $1(we go very light on the candy. Very. Light.)Total so far: $172.50

Whoops! Totally forgot the Walgreen's Stocking stuffers ($5.25) and the new missals and church books I bought at the Daughters of St. Paul's last week ($21).

New total: $198.75 - although this was spent between Sept. and Dec. and did not come out of the same month's budget!We give the kids brand new jammies on Christmas Eve every year. That way I can keep all the pictures straight. I'm having problems with my big boys though, finding jammies for a skinny 9 yo boy is a challenge. Last year he was in size 10 Spiderman jammies; this year, he outgrew those over the summer and I think is going to have to settle for pajama pants and t-shirts. Haven't gotten those yet.

I made teacher baskets as well, for CCD teachers (x4), Mr R's Bus driver and assistant, and Mr R's teacher and assistant. Last year we had a terrible bus driver so I really, really appreciate wonderful Miss Alma this year. I do find it ironic that I homeschool and still made 8 teacher appreciation baskets! I made homemade goodies, because that is cheaper than buying a tchotchke, and how many apple themed coffee cups does a person need, anyway?